The pop culture moments that defined 2024: Taylor Swift's eras, 'Deadpool' dominance

A year of rap beefs, "Brat" and surprise music drops is almost in the books.

When future pop culture historians look back at 2024, which moment will stand out first? Will it be the brutal feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake? Will it be the slow-motion collision that ended Bennifer 2.0?

Could it be the rapid rise of Chappell Roan, near-daily lawsuits leveled against Diddy or Disney regaining its footing as a dominant force in theaters?

As 2024 comes to an end, these are the pop culture moments we think will define the year — for better or worse.

Kendrick Lamar and Drake engage in epic rap feud

"The Big Three" took over 2024. Well, the big two. When J. Cole bowed out of the decade-defining rap feud between his genre contemporaries Kendrick Lamar and Drake, K. Dot faced up with Drizzy. It didn't end well.

Lamar, the Compton lyricist who rose to fame with a critically acclaimed breakout album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City" in 2012, settled the long-running debate about "who the G.O.A.T" is a decade after his rise to fame.

In his hit Drake diss track "Not Like Us," referencing online rumors surrounding his frequent foe by name, Lamar raps, "Say Drake, I hear you like 'em young." He also raps, referencing Drake's album "Certified Lover Boy," calling the Canadian rapper a "certified pedophile."

"Not Like Us," the most commercially successful work of his career, became his first No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and in November, he notched seven Grammy nods, becoming the most nominated rap artist at next year's Grammy Awards.

Drake, who does not submit for Grammys, received no nomination and now he's threatening to sue Universal Music Group and Spotify for deceptive practices. He claims they colluded to boost Lamar's "Not Like Us."

Now, Lamar's game-changing year will spill into 2025 as the "Swimming Pools" emcee headlines the Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans next February.

Kendrick Lamar and Drake rap beef: What makes this music feud so significant?

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour finally ends

This year marked the end of an era for Taylor Swift and for pop music.

The singer's hugely popular Eras Tour kicked off in early 2023 but continued to make headlines throughout 2024 before finally wrapping up on Dec. 8.

Just when fans thought they knew the show like the back of their hands, Swift switched up the set list in May by adding in songs from "The Tortured Poets Department" — and in June, her boyfriend Travis Kelce made fans swoon by joining her on stage.

When all was said and done, the Eras Tour was reported to have grossed more than $2 billion, making it by far the biggest tour ever.

Diddy arrested after sex trafficking investigation

Sean "Diddy" Combs is in the midst of a legal fight for his life.

The embattled music mogul was arrested Sept. 16 at a Manhattan hotel by federal investigators, who charged Combs with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The Bad Boy Records founder has since been denied bail despite multiple attempts to be released from a Brooklyn, New York, detention center ahead of his May 2025 trial.

The hip-hop heavyweight's arrest came amid a slew of ongoing civil lawsuits alleging abuse, including a highly publicized suit filed in 2023 by his ex-girlfriend "Me & U" singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura that was settled 24 hours later.

The arrest followed a pair of federal raids that targeted him as the subject of a sex trafficking investigation and came after a 2016 surveillance video surfaced of Combs kicking, dragging and hitting Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel.

Diddy's long history of legal troubles: Unraveling old lawsuits, allegations

Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter blow up as Charli XCX ushers in Brat summer

Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter have bubbled under the surface of pop music's mainstream for years, but in 2024, the pair finally emerged as up-and-coming superstars.

Although Roan's debut album "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" was released in 2023, she saw a major surge in popularity this year, as her track "Hot to Go!" became inescapable.

But the burgeoning pop star wasn't afraid to scold "creepy behavior" from fans and speak out about the way fame is affecting her, which could inspire future industry rookies to set similar boundaries.

It was also a massive year for Carpenter, whose earworm "Espresso" helped cement her as a pop sensation and became Spotify's most-streamed song of the year.

And let's not forget Charli XCX, whose album "Brat" so defined the summer that Vice President Kamala Harris joined in on the fun — forcing a CNN panel to unpack Gen Z's seasonal moment.

'Brat summer' is upon us. What does that mean? Kamala Harris is game for it.

Jennifer Lopez files for divorce from Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez made us believe in love again with their 2022 reunion, but by this year, the couple affectionately known as Bennifer were constantly in the news amid tabloid rumors about the health of their marriage.

After months of rumors that ranged from bad to worse, fans finally got word in August that Lopez had filed for divorce — on their second wedding anniversary. (The pair married two years ago after calling off their engagement in 2004.)

Lopez also canceled her summer tour in May amid the split.

Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck are getting divorced. Why you can't look away.

Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' and Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter'

Swift and Beyoncé aren't known for taking days — or years — off, and 2024 was no different.

In March, Beyoncé released her genre-bending record "Cowboy Carter," proclaiming in an Instagram caption that her eighth studio album "ain't a Country album. This is a 'Beyoncé' album." It hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the help of her twang-tinged lead single "Texas Hold 'Em."

The album featured Shaboozey, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Willie Jones, Willie Nelson, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Tanner Adell, Reyna Roberts and country legend Linda Martell.

"Cowboy Carter" was seen as a response aimed at Nashville's mainstream, who gave the music legend an icy reception during her performance of "Daddy Lessons" featuring The Chicks at the 2016 CMA Awards. A month after Beyoncé got back on the saddle, Swift followed up with a record-breaking album of her own.

The singer-songwriter megastar wrote her way into music's history books with over 300 million streams in a single day for "The Tortured Poets Department." It became the most-streamed album in a single day in 2024, according to a rep for Spotify.

Lead single "Fortnight," featuring rapper and genre-bending singer Post Malone, also made history as the most-streamed song in a day. Swift also claims the top three albums most streamed albums in Spotify history with 2023's "Midnights" and "1989 (Taylor's Version)."

Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets' is hauntingly brilliant, even the 15 surprise songs

'Inside Out 2' and 'Deadpool & Wolverine' set records, 'Wicked' defies gravity

Is there any better summation of 2024 than the fact that the year's most iconic movie character may be anxiety?

"Inside Out 2" exceeded box office expectations over the summer by tapping into 2010s nostalgia and millennial anxiety. It's currently not only the biggest movie of 2024, but the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Later in the year, another Disney animated sequel, "Moana 2," had the biggest Thanksgiving weekend ever at the box office. Both films marked a comeback for Disney after a series of animated flops like "Wish," "Strange World" and "Lightyear."

The biggest since 'Barbie': Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' debuts with huge $155M weekend

Marvel similarly rebounded from recent financial disappointments and beat the superhero fatigue allegations with "Deadpool & Wolverine," the current second highest-grossing film of the year and biggest R-rated movie in history. Its success could lead Marvel to lean even harder into fan service and cameos going forward.

It wasn't all good news on the comic book movie front, as DC's "Joker: Folie à Deux," starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, was a stunning failure both in terms of box office grosses and fan reception. The crash out upped the pressure on new DC boss James Gunn to successfully reset the superhero brand with next year's "Superman."

'Deadpool & Wolverine' pulverizes a slew of records with $211M opening

If there was a true successor to the "Barbie" craze, it was "Wicked," which wowed audiences after an Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo-peppered press tour that made the movie musical feel like a true must-see event.

Princess Kate and King Charles III battle cancer

King Charles III and Princess Kate bucked royal tradition this year by publicly revealing their respective cancer diagnoses.

King Charles, who celebrated his 76th birthday on Nov. 14, announced his unspecified cancer diagnosis in February and underwent a "corrective procedure."

The news came after the palace announced on Jan. 17 that the monarch "has sought treatment for an enlarged prostate," telling the press and public his condition was "in common with thousands of men each year."

Princess Kate's spring surgery led doctors to discover she had cancer. Her absence from public view fueled weeks of speculation about her whereabouts. In a March video message, she announced she had cancer, telling viewers it took time to "explain everything" to her three children "and to reassure them that I'm going to be OK."

She asked for privacy amid her treatment and said she needed to "focus on making a full recovery." In September, Princess Kate shared her "relief" after completing her chemotherapy treatment.

Princess Kate finishes chemotherapy, says she's 'doing what I can to stay cancer-free'

Stars stump for Kamala Harris, embrace 'childless cat lady' label

When President Joe Biden made the historic decision to drop out of the 2024 election, stars were quick to rally around Vice President Kamala Harris.

Swift and Beyoncé joined the long list of celebrities who endorsed the Democratic nominee. Swift's endorsement was particularly anticipated, and she strategically dropped it just after Harris' debate with President-elect Donald Trump.

Taylor Swift's response to presidential debate? She quickly endorsed Kamala Harris.

Many of the endorsements also seized on Vice President-elect JD Vance's controversial comments about the Democratic Party consisting of "childless cat ladies." But in the end, all the star power in the world couldn't prevent a decisive loss for Harris, and stars including Zachary Levi, Joe Rogan and Rob Schneider celebrated Trump's election victory.

Liam Payne, James Earl Jones and more celebrity deaths

Hardly any time passed in 2024 without the deaths of industry titans and stars gone too soon.

In October, One Direction star Liam Payne died at 31 after falling from a hotel balcony. For a generation that grew up with the boy band, the news was especially heavy and difficult to process.

Other young stars lost this year included Chance Perdomo, who died at just 27 years old in a motorcycle accident, and "General Hospital" star Johnny Wactor, who was shot and killed at 37.

Several stars also died due to battles with cancer, including Shannen Doherty, Toby Keith and Morgan Spurlock.

Carl Weathers, Richard Lewis, Louis Gossett Jr., Shelley Duvall, Richard Simmons, Bob Newhart, James Earl Jones, John Amos and Quincy Jones were among the year's other huge losses.

5 charged in death of Matthew Perry

Matthew Perry's death last year shocked legions of "Friends" fans, leading to questions about Perry's condition at the time of his death in October 2023. But in 2024, we found apparent answers.

In August, five people were charged in Perry's death from "the acute effects of ketamine."

Physician Salvador Plasencia, 42, and 41-year-old Jasveen Sangha, whom a Department of Justice press release referred to as the "The Ketamine Queen" of North Hollywood, California, originally faced 18 criminal counts for allegedly "distributing ketamine to Perry during the final weeks of the actor’s life."

Alleged co-conspirators named in the case are Perry's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, 59; Dr. Mark Chavez, 54 and Erik Fleming, 54, who was described as Perry's acquaintance.

Iwamasa's plea agreement gave a look at Perry's final days and his private battle with ketamine addiction which ended when Perry was found dead in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2023.

Investigators said Iwamasa conspired alongside others to purchase at least $55,000 worth of ketamine on behalf of Perry to inject the actor with the drug without proper medical licensure. Ketamine is an anesthetic drug, that contains psychedelic contents. They claim Iwamasa injected Perry with ketamine three times on the day of his death.

Matthew Perry's death: Doctor who illegally obtained ketamine pleads guilty

'Oppenheimer' dominates Oscars, but Ryan Gosling steals the show

2023 was the year of Barbenheimer, but the phenomenon spilled over into 2024 thanks to awards season, which culminated in "Oppenheimer" winning the best picture Oscar as Christopher Nolan was awarded best director.

Biggest moments from the 2024 Oscars, from Emma Stone's surprise win to naked John Cena

While not unexpected, it was the moment Hollywood officially crowned Nolan as not only one of the most financially successful filmmakers working today, but one of the best.

Still, the image we'll remember most from the 2024 Oscars may be of someone who didn't win anything: Ryan Gosling, who in a bedazzled pink suit delivered a performance of "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie" that was so inspired, it may actually top the one in the movie. We always knew he was Kenough.

Jon Stewart and Robert Downey Jr.'s shocking returns

Just when we thought they were out... two stars who viewers never expected to return to the franchise that made them famous.

Jon Stewart revealed in January that he would return as host of "The Daily Show," at least for one night a week. It was a surprising move for the comedian, who exited with great fanfare in 2015.

Who is Doctor Doom? Robert Downey Jr.'s shocking Marvel casting explained

But fans have been impressed with Stewart's new episodes, and although his comeback was first pitched as just for the election, he's now set to stay through 2025. Could this just be the start of a long second run for the man who for years was one of the most influential voices in late-night?

Even more stunning was Robert Downey Jr., who left the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2019 with the emotional death of Iron Man, shocking fans at Comic-Con in July by revealing he's returning for the next "Avengers" movies — not as Iron Man, but as the villain Doctor Doom.

To quote Luke Skywalker, in Hollywood, no one's ever really gone.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taylor Swift, Beyonce, 'Deadpool': 2024's biggest pop culture moments